Who is Soulja Boy Tell'em and How Did He Become Popular?

If you have not heard of Soulja Boy Tellem yet, you either will shortly (possibly even from this article) or you may soon discover that your teenager is one of his biggest fans. This seventeen year old rapper and hip-hop recording artist has become the rage of teenagers and young adults across America, and he just recently released his first album Souljaboytellem.com through Interscope Records.

Soulja Boy, who's real name is DeAndre Wade, created his own unique beats, dancing and hip-hop music based upon his roots and upbringing in Atlanta, Chicago and Mississippi. While in school in Atlanta,Soulja Boy was first exposed to the music business when he met fellow rapper Young Kwon, and Young Kwon ultimately helped him break into the music world.

However, Soulja Boy's ever-growing fan base and rise to a musical phenom began from small "grass roots" movements on the Internet. In fact, websites such as MySpace.com and YouTube are largely credited for quickly converting Soulja Boy from a virtual unknown to a household name. Now, Soulja Boy is considered an Internet pioneer on how to publish and spread the word about one's music, and his model will undoubtedly be copied by many artists in the future. Based largely upon his Internet success and growth in popularity, he is now on tour across the country. Further, Soulja Boy's hit single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" has received amazing air time on the radio and has risen to the top of the Billboard Top 100 for five straight weeks and counting. Remarkably, Soulja Boy has become so popular and such a phenomenon that his Soulja "Crank That" style of dancing is now even being mocked by mascots at stadiums and cartoon characters.

Some critics have criticized Soulja Boy as a fad or "one hit wonder" in the same vein as artists such as Vanilla Ice. To the contrary, many others have hailed Soulja Boy as the next "big thing" on the rap and hip-hop scene based upon his unique beats and dancing talent. He has even been dubbed as possibly the next Michael Jackson. Only time will tell how the public views Soulja Boy's longevity; however, Soulja Boy appears here to stay for now and his incredible popularity is rising daily.

If you want to hear Soulja Boy, plenty of his dancing and music are easily accessible on YouTube.com, and his next performance is scheduled at Texas A&M University's Maroon Madness in College Station. Or, if you want to catch a future show, you can simply check Soulja Boy's current tour schedule on his website located at www.souljaboytellem.com.